The present invention relates to digital data processing devices, and in particular to computer application programs and devices for assisting a user making a presentation to third parties.
The latter half of the twentieth century has been witness to a phenomenon known as the information revolution. While the information revolution is a historical development broader in scope than any one event or machine, no single device has come to represent the information revolution more than the digital electronic computer. The development of computer systems has surely been a revolution. Each year, computer systems grow faster, store more data, and provide more applications to their users.
Early computer systems were very expensive and difficult to use, capable of being programmed and manipulated by only a handful of highly-educated specialists. The cost of operating such computers was correspondingly high, and they were therefore used for only the most essential tasks. The dynamic which has driven the information revolution is the sustained reduction in the cost of computing. Thus, information which was too expensive to gather, store and process a few years ago, is now economically feasible to manipulate via computer. The reduced cost of information processing drives increasing productivity in a snowballing effect, because product designs, manufacturing processes, resource scheduling, administrative chores, and many other factors, are made more efficient.
The declining prices and expanding capabilities of modern computers cause them to be applied to an ever increasing variety of applications. For some years now, inexpensive xe2x80x9cpersonal computersxe2x80x9d have been available for personal use at home or for the use of a single individual at a place of business. Although small, these machines provide capability that could have only been imagined not long ago.
One of the applications to which computers have been put is that of a presentation assisting device. In a typical use of this application, a human speaker (the user) makes a presentation to an audience. As part of the presentation, information from the computer is displayed to the audience, e.g., by display on one or more display terminals, or by projection onto a large screen using a special projector device. This information may be text phrases which emphasize certain points being made by the speaker, graphs, images, or other data. Except for very short presentations, the information being displayed is typically contained on multiple frames, which are shown to the audience in sequence as the speaker progresses through his presentation. Such frames may also be referred to as pages or slides, and are usually still frames, although not necessarily so. The speaker, or someone at his direction, will typically prepare the displayed information ahead of time, determining content and sequence of information to be displayed. The computer stores this information and displays it in the desired sequence.
Because the course of a speaker""s presentation is not always predictable, conventional presentation assisting tools typically offer the speaker some control over the information displayed when in front of the audience. For example, existing tools permit the speaker to change the frame or page automatically at a preset time, or to change the time of his choosing, thus permitting the speaker to spend a long time on one page if the need arises, and to spend little time on other pages. Prior art tools also permit the speaker to vary the sequence of pages during the presentation, as by skipping a page where it appears unnecessary or the speaker is running out of time, or by going back to a previously displayed page to revisit some matter in response to a question from the audience.
As helpful as the existing presentation assisting tools are, they can still be difficult to use and impose substantial burdens on the speaker. One of the problems faced by speakers is the need to budget their time. Speakers are often required to adhere to a schedule which limits the total length of their presentations. At the same time, delays in getting started, equipment problems, questions from the audience, unforeseen interruptions, or just plain speaker inexperience may cause the speaker to lag significantly behind, and find himself in a position where he has used almost all of his time, but covered only half his material. Finishing significantly ahead of schedule, although less common, is also a problem, for it can create the impression that the speaker rushed through the material and the audience didn""t get its money""s worth.
An extremely experienced and adept speaker can make changes to his presentation on the fly to accommodate these circumstances, mentally keeping track of the time remaining and the relative importance of subjects yet to be covered while he addresses the audience, and abbreviating or deleting his discussion of less important matters in order to finish on time. Unfortunately, few speakers can measure up to this standard. Most speakers have difficulty speaking in front of an audience while simultaneously mentally adjusting the remaining presentation times and topics covered.
A need exists for improved presentation assisting tools which help speakers plan the timing of a presentation, keep advised of how well they are holding to the plan during presentation, and dynamically adjust their presentations to accommodate unforeseen circumstances. Furthermore, a typical speaker wants this capability without the audience being aware of what he is doing, so as not to draw attention away from the topic and to the mechanisms of the presentation. A typical speaker wants assistance in keeping time, but also wants to retain full control over the timing and sequence, to take extra time on a topic when needed.
A presentation assisting tool monitors the time remaining in a presentation in real time, provides status information to the speaker, and dynamically adjusts the presentation to fit the available time constraints or other constraints.
In the preferred embodiment, the presentation tool is an application program executing on a general purpose digital computer such as a well known xe2x80x9cpersonal computerxe2x80x9d. A user prepares a presentation having multiple frames in advance, using an editing function of the presentation tool, and stores these on the computer. The user assigns a numerical priority level to each frame. The user further assigns a minimum time, a goal time, and a maximum time to be spent on each frame. During the presentation to an audience, the presentation tool monitors the progress of the presentation and the time remaining. The presentation tool dynamically adjusts goal times to fit the remaining time allotted, and if necessary, deletes entire frames using the pre-assigned priorities. The tool provides indicia of the time remaining, goal times, and/or need to move on to another frame, to the user.
In the preferred embodiment, the display presented to the audience is identical in content to the user""s monitoring display, although typically much larger. The tool indicia of time remaining, goal times and so forth are preferably presented on the display in a form unlikely to be noticed or understood by the audience, and hence unlikely to cause unnecessary distraction. Specifically, indicia may be provided as non-textual coded information embedded in the frames of the presentation. Several variations of such indicia are possible. In one variation, font and color are altered. In another variation, icons can change. In still another variation, unannotated progress bars appear in various parts of the screen.
A presentation tool in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention thus performs the mental gymnastics that were previously possible only for the most experienced and able speakers, and thus enables even novice speakers to improve their presentations, appearing more confident and professional. At the same time, the audience benefits from improved presentations which cover the essential subject matter, without the distractions of apparent speaker confusion or lack or organization.